Bush Cries Alone

Bush didn't make any public remarks at Masada, but Perino said later: "I would say the President had a really fantastic time at Masada today."

Time for Distance?

Adam Nagourney and Carl Hulse write in the New York Times: "The Republican defeat in a special Congressional contest in Mississippi sent waves of apprehension across an already troubled party Wednesday, with some senior Republicans urging Congressional candidates to distance themselves from President Bush to head off what could be heavy losses in the fall. . . .

"The special election results left Democrats and Republicans in rare agreement about one thing: President Bush looms as a drag on Republicans."

Jonathan Weisman and Paul Kane write in The Washington Post: "'These races were not in New Jersey or New England, where Republican erosion has taken place over the last decade. They were in the heart of the Bible Belt, the social conservative core of our coalition,' Rep. Tom Davis (Va.) fretted in a 20-page memorandum given to House Republican leaders yesterday and provided to The Washington Post.

"'Members and pundits, waiting for Democrats to fumble the ball so that soft Republicans and Independents will snap back to the GOP, fail to understand the deep seeded [sic] antipathy toward the President, the war, gas prices, the economy, foreclosures and, in some areas, the underlying cultural differences that continue to brand our party.' . . .

"Rep. Walter B. Jones (N.C.), who just crushed a primary opponent challenging him on his antiwar stance, said it is time to break with Bush and find a way out of Iraq.

"'If this party does not look at options and figure out how to pursue those options, we're in real trouble,' he said."

But Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, "rejected the notion of a dramatic break with Bush.

"'I don't see it particularly as an advantage to be in a debate with our president,' he said. 'It's not for me to second-guess the president of the United States.'"

Susan Davis and Sarah Lueck write in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required): "Republicans are blaming the losses on the unpopularity of President Bush, weak candidates and attack-style campaigns that failed to appeal to voters who are weary of divisiveness in Washington.

"Of these, the most damaging factor that House Republicans can't control is the president. 'Right or wrong, he's stuck to us,' said one Republican lawmaker."

Karl Rove writes in his Wall Street Journal opinion column that the recent spate of GOP defeats "only shows the GOP can't take 'safe' seats for granted when Democrats run conservatives who distance themselves from their national party leaders."

Veto Override Watch

David M. Herszenhorn writes in the New York Times: "Ignoring a veto threat from President Bush, who says he wants to sharply limit government subsidies to farmers at a time of near-record commodity prices and soaring global demand for grain, the House on Wednesday approved a five-year, $307 billion farm bill with a solid bipartisan majority.

"The House voted 318 to 106 -- well above the two-thirds needed to hand Mr. Bush the second veto override of his presidency -- with 100 Republicans joining the Democratic majority in favor.

"The Senate was expected to follow suit with wide bipartisan support on Thursday, sending Mr. Bush a bill that he described this week as bloated and expensive and said 'resorts to a variety of gimmicks."

Michael Doyle writes for McClatchy Newspapers that Bush is set for "a major political embarrassment. . . .

"If the farm bill support holds, as lawmakers expect, Congress is on track to hand Bush the second veto override of his presidency. In an election year, even GOP lawmakers stressed Wednesday that they cared more about their rural voters than about Bush's declining clout."

Greg Hitt writes in the Wall Street Journal that the bipartisan support for the farm bill is "the latest sign that the waning months of President Bush's term are being defined by battles with a Congress that appears to be tuning him out. . . .

"For Mr. Bush, who is on a five-day tour of the Middle East, the domestic fight is a struggle to maintain relevancy, as his power and popularity ebb."

On Giving Up Golf

I wrote in yesterday's column about Bush's idea of sacrifice: Giving up golf in solidarity with the families soldiers who have died or been wounded in Iraq.

And I noted that although Bush told Mike Allen of Politico that he had given it up in mid-August of 2003, an Associated Press report placed Bush on the links on Oct. 13, 2003.

Now it turns out Bush also went golfing in September. According to a Sept. 28, 2003, report from the Associated Press: "President Bush spent a sunny Sunday joking with his golfing friends at Andrews Air Force Base.

"Bush played with David Hobbs, his chief liaison to Congress; Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., a leading negotiator on the Medicare bill which is stalled in Congress; and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio - a state Bush plans to visit this week.

"The president joked that photographers and reporters should not disturb Boehner, adding that the congressman 'doesn't handle pressure very well.'"

In an Oct. 2, 2003, Roll Call story no longer available online, Ed Henry wrote: "President Bush just couldn't stop needling House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio) - or anyone else - on the golf course this past weekend. . . .

"According to the pool report filed by Finlay Lewis of Copley News Service, Bush teed off on the first tee and saw his drive land 'somewhat wide right and in the rough.'

"While Nickles loosened up for his first drive, Bush joked, 'Play as many [balls] as you want. Let your conscience be your guide.'"

Henry reported that "Bush had a bit of trouble with his putting stroke on the 18th green and finished somewhere in the mid-80's. Boehner fired a 41 on the front nine and a 34 on the back nine, outpacing the big guy by about 10 strokes."

More Reaction

Michael Paul Williams writes in his Richmond Times-Dispatch opinion column: "Mr. President, here's a news flash: No one has died because you spent a day out on the links.

"If this shallow gesture is the best you can do to display solidarity with bereaved families, you should have kept hacking away. It's yet another insult to those who have sacrificed the most in Iraq.

"It's doubtful that the families of the 4,077 U.S. troops who have been confirmed dead in Iraq take any solace from your abstaining from golf.

"Upon leaving office, you can hop back in the golf cart while your successor attempts to pull this nation out of the quagmire you so willingly plunged us into. But some 30,000 wounded troops may no longer have the physical, mental or emotional dexterity to play golf. Some have lost an arm or a leg or are no longer ambulatory. Others are waging inner wars with traumatic stress or depression. The last thing on their minds is a pitching wedge or a putter."

Countdown's Keith Olbermann delivered one of his "special comments" on Bush's "unforgivable interview."

"Do you think these families, Mr. Bush, their lives blighted forever, care about you playing golf? . . .

"When somebody asks you, Sir, about your gallant, noble, self-abnegating sacrifice of your golf game so as to soothe the families of the war dead, this advice, Mr. Bush: Shut the -- hell up!"

Karl Rove Watch

Paul Kiel reports for TPM Muckraker: "House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers' (D-MI) response to Karl Rove's offer to testify by letter: Nope.

"The committee wants Rove to testify about his role in the prosecution of ex-Gov. Don Siegelman (D-AL), but Rove has refused to appear for a hearing, instead offering to speak privately with staff off the record. He modified that offer to testify by letter.

"But Conyers says that's a no-go. If Rove is willing to create a record with a letter, he argues, then there's no reason why he shouldn't be willing to sit down with staff for an on-the-record interview. Conyers says the committee is prepared to offer 'other possible accommodations, such as providing a list of initial questions that may be asked,' but there must be a live interview and a transcript. Conyers again mentions the possibility of a subpoena should talks break down."

The New York Times editorial board blogs: "Witnesses to important matters don't get to answer questions in writing. They are questioned under oath. (We'd like to see someone subpoenaed in a criminal trial tell the judge they will only answer questions in writing.) Live questioning allows the questioners to follow up on answers, and get at the truth of what occurred -- something that is very difficult in a set of written questions."

Polar Bears Win, Cheney Loses

Felicity Barringer writes in the New York Times: "The polar bear, whose summertime Arctic hunting grounds have been greatly reduced by a warming climate, will be placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced on Wednesday. . . .

"In recent days, some officials in the Interior Department speculated that the office of Vice President Dick Cheney had tried to block the listing of the bear. People close to these officials indicated that two separate documents -- one supporting the listing, and the other supporting a decision not to list the bear -- had been prepared for Mr. Kempthorne.

"In an interview, Mr. Kempthorne and his chief of staff, Bryan Waidmann, said they had not discussed the decision with anyone in the vice president's office, though they did not dispute that two documents had been made available for the secretary's signature this week.

"'Let's say I had my options available,' Mr. Kempthorne said."

Cartoon Watch

John Sherffius on Bush's road map; Steve Sack, Steven Lait, Jimmy Margulies and Mike Keefe on Bush and McCain; Tom Toles, Ann Telnaes, M.e. Cohen and Scott Bateman on Bush's great sacrifice.